Brick Bay
Petit Verdot 2022 750ml

This rare grape varietal is characterised by intriguing aromas and velvety layers of earthy dark fruits – a wine for red meats, aged cheese, and lively conversation.

Region: Matakana

Harvest date: 18 March 2022

Bottling date: 2 February 2023

Composition:100% Petit Verdot

Alcohol: 13.5%

TA: 5.9

pH: 3.38

Quantity: 105 dozen

In the Vineyard

Once again, the effect of Auckland lockdowns saw a smaller team at work in the vineyard, without our usual international backpacker support and winter pruning, all done by hand, was particularly challenging. A very early although uneven budburst gave us a long flowering period this vintage, something experienced in most grape growing regions in the country. Veraison (colour change and softening of the berries) also was early, with all the vines netted in early January.

Our vineyard team did their usual meticulous job of creating an open vine canopy by removing excess foliage by hand to allow air movement to dry the fruit and allow sunlight penetration. We are clearly reaping the benefits of the application over many years of organic soil health-enhancing products, producing healthier vines which can better withstand disease. A mild but rainy winter gave way eventually to a dry hot summer, with just the odd unwelcome rain event. Nevertheless we were able to carefully monitor the developing fruit ripeness and hand harvest an exceptional quality crop. As with most regions in the country, our yield for this vintage was generally 20% less than the previous year, a reflection of a cooler, damp spring during the flowering period.

In the Winery

In the winery, the fruit was destemmed and crushed into small open-top fermenters. A selected yeast instigated fermentation, with the rising ‘cap’ of skins initially hand-plunged four times daily. As alcoholic fermentation proceeded, the plunging regime was decreased to avoid over-extraction. After a period of post-fermentation maceration to add structure and balance, the wine was racked, the skins gently pressed, settled, then aged largely in a mixture of new and one year old French oak barriques.

After 10 months, the barriques were blended together and the wine was then bottled without fining and bottle-aged for several more years before release. Usually a key component in our premium Pharos blend, in 2022 our precious Petit Verdot was made as a single varietal offering our customers a unique opportunity to taste this rare grape.